A Lesson in Betrayal, Part Nine
Team Titan Think Tank. Issue 16- “A Lesson in Betrayal.” (Part Nine) Front cover- the evil Cain duplicate flies high up in the air, so that he is nothing but an ominous winged shadow eclipsed by the desert sun. In the foreground stands row upon row of Morphoraptors, their assault rifles pointing at the reader, as they all look down their sights in unison. Narration- “The Training Simulation- what really happened with Cain.” The comic opens with all the team being cut off from each other at the beginning, and focusses on Cain as his corridor of mirrors leads to the Rumble Room doors. The Obs Room doors swish open as Cain walks in. BB sits there still, watching the team on the monitors, eating some of Top's popcorn. BB looks over as the doors open "Briton." Cain says affably, with a polite nod to BB, swishing into a seat and taking it close to the monitors in a few fluid, planned motions. "Cain, what the hell are you doing?" "Monitoring the situation. Keeping them on their toes. Getting them used to a situation I *hope* not to run into in Titan City. Namely... teaching them a small lesson in betrayal. “And what exactly are -you- learning, huh? How to laugh over monitors as you watch your minions do you work for you? Thought you'd given -that- one up." "I, have been through all this before, Briton. Mister Psychic aside, these are *very* fresh heroes, about to... how much *do* you know about this team, Briton?" "I don't know a lot, but I'm SURE you're going to tell me..." sighing, folding his arms tighter. "Watch, sir, and enjoy. While significantly toned down, this is still a high class imitation of true villainy at work. Were I to make it any more real, I'd be cackling out my master plan at you. Though not before you were strapped to something with a digital countdown timer, of course. Besides, if I were *really* trying to push them, there would be rather a lot more duplicates in there right now..." "And what are -you- learning from this, other than how much you miss lauding it over Monitors of Evil?" "Please. Mikey was always the one keeping an eye on the screens." With a dismissive claw wave. "So far, I've learned of a few new powers from Reb and James, and Miss Stevens'... curious, reaction to the situation." The comic flash backs, showing her initial moment where she freaked out at seeing her reflection for the first time. "If I watch where they fall over..." he leans into the plotting claws position, "I'll know before it's important how to pick them back up again." "Yeah, but you aren't supposed to be their battlefield commander. Laura wanted you to learn -with- them, to train -with- them. How are they gonna feel if they find out you've been sitting just watching them whilst they get their butts kicked?" Cain chuckles, turning his head slowly to give BB a lizardly, side-on look. "And who's to say he *isn't* in there with them?" He barely leaves the question to settle before looking at the monitors again, commanding "Maintain reduced lethality, target Reb. Nearby dupes, increase alertness, become wary of incoming. Suspect intervention, or traps." "But you -aren't- in there, regardless of what they think. So really, you aren't learning nearly as much as you think you are. You want them to learn trust... all you are teaching them is paranoia, and if they found out you weren't even in there, what do you think that would do to team morale?" He opens as his arms wide as he mouths BOOOOOM "Tell me, Briton..." he says, claws now on the desk, "How do you prepare a team for a sudden, uncertain combat situation? One where mind control is not just likely, but practically guaranteed?" "Would you have me ask them to punch their way through droves of hapless illusions?" "I'm not questioning your sim... I'm questioning the fact you are not even ****ing in it!" Cain opens his mouth to speak, but it hangs open a few seconds, before turning to grit teeth. "Well, I've *far* from evaded testing in here, haven't I?.." "Yeah, and you ain't scoring real high marks right now." He folds his arms and taps his foot. Cain's claw taps briefly around the voice recognition unit, eventually scoring a small mark at the base of the microphone in frustration "Phase two... so help me, phase two..." he mutters to himself. As says this, the comic shows Cain having, among his individual views of the team, a view showing the maze from above. It has a main, segmented circular area, where the team were initially split up, showing the branches of three corridors that branch out from each segment, and then branch out into each other, forming an interconnecting web of corridors. As he activates phase 2, other environments suddenly wink into life outside of the corridors; a desert, a winter wilderness, a hell-scape and the ocean. Cain grips the desk tight as Mister Psychic says "If there is indeed a fiendish facsimile wandering around it would do well to stop him before he causes any harm among our team." Rising slowly, peering and then glaring at the wall of monitors before him, silhouetted villainously by the glow. "Damn you, sir. And damn you, Briton." he whispers to himself. Before turning quickly, pointing a particularly wicked claw at BB "You. I have spent a career of villainy lacing my threats with equal parts honey and venom... But if the boy gets hurt before I can reach him..." he hisses, narrowing his eyes, "I will *eat* you." He vaults away away from the desk toward the Rumble Room again, hurling back over his shoulder "And don't let the simulation run to the phase with the su- enha- morph..." As his voice tails off, drowned out as he puts distance between himself and the room. As Cain leaves the room, Battling Briton folds his arms and smiles. "Well done, my friend", he says. Cain goes into the corridor, and enters the Rumble Room and goes to the end of the dead-end corridor where he began, with a loping run. As he shoulder barges the mirror, shattering his way through it. He ends up inside a column of glass, the mirrors on the other side, which, other than the face he has just shattered, has nine sides. He looks to his left and his right in some deliberation. He smashes the glass on his right, and looks through, to see an empty corridor, branching into three corridors at the end. His scaly skin turns yellow as he shrinks down to a size only one foot high. He sprouts pterodactyl wings and flies high, hugging the ceiling as he goes. He flies at great speed, he turns a corner and then halts, clinging onto the ceiling, as he sees Mister Tops and Mister Psychic stood at the hole into the desert environment, Rob next to them, about to fire, and the fake Reb on his X-Wing. He flies over to the shattered hole, clinging on and hanging upside down above Mr Psychic. He watches as Rob rages and blasts both of them out of the hole and into the desert. He looks out into the desert, seeing Sonne and Reb talking. His eyes narrow as the false Cain flies down and starts talking to them. “Good... I am in time...” Rob picks up the inert Games Master and leaps out of the hole. Cain follows. "Think Tank!" mini-Cain yells, a shrill, piercing sound, "Restrain the Cain dupe, or we'll be seeing some *real* supervillainy!" The comic then cuts, back to the start of the sim, with Cain, in the dead-end corridor, with the Rumble Room doors at the end. Narration- “What really, really ''happened with Cain.” Cain is showing exiting the Rumble Room and going through into the corridor, but this time, is seen by the reader through a monitor. On the monitor, he enters the Obs Room where BB confronts him. The comic book then pans out, to show this as a small segmented screen on the larger Obs Room screen, just like Cain has been watching. The comic pans out further to show BB watching it... alone. He spews out his popcorn. “What the-?” He goes over to the screen and peers in. He sees himself ranting at Cain. “Hang on... Cain thinks he has left the Room?” “That is correct” comes the disembodied voice of Red Base. “Didn't -he- program this?” “Yes. But I didn't think he was learning enough. I reprogrammed his program a little, to teach Cain something. This is not what he can truly be. He will learn.” BB leans back and grins, eating more popcorn. “Good. You know, fake me is right... he should be in there with them, treacherous little snake. I'm going to enjoy this.” BB spews out his popcorn again. “Wait, did he just threaten to eat me?” He stands up in part-rage. “He threatened to eat me.” “A virtual you.” “That he thinks is me.” “I believe it was merely a figure of speech, like 'I am going to kill that arsehole.'” BB sits down again, defused. “Okay, I may have said that from time to time.” BB leaps up again as he hears from the screen "Rumble Room- disengage non-lethal attack protocols!" CUT The comic cuts to Laura Waterstone, sat at her desk, rifling through ring binders, looking incredibly stressed. "Director..." comes Red Base's disembodied voice. Waterstone looks up. The reader sees that on the screen before her is a grid of faces upon, the faces of a multitude of different people, none the reader would recognise, though they are either dressed in shirt and tie or suits, and most have badges with GSPD on them. "Not now, Red, I am ''very ''busy." "I apologise but this is of-" "I really am ''busy... ''wait, the Think Tank are in the Rumble Room right now, aren't they?" She looks suddenly panicked, "Steve wants you there right away." "I ''can't. ''Not right now. Tell Steve to monitor things, and if it looks hairy, one of you or both of you needs to find a way to bust them out of there or turn the Rumble Room off." "... How did you know about the Rumble Room?" Waterstone stands up, knocking some of the paper on the floor. "Because I have just had the non-powered staff of about a dozen GSPD bases tell me that their resident Team Titans are in their Rumble Rooms. Trapped in there, with the Room having taken a mind of its own, and activating lethal settings. Am I getting warm?" "... Ah yes." "Now, I know what happened to the ''original ''Room back in the 90s. However, I had Idol and Gunn check over this one thoroughly and fix it, since it got recreated by the Reanium. Prometheus double checked it. Its supposed to be ''fine." "I believe what is occuring could not be detected," "This is either malfunction or self-awareness... and you think none of our tech geniuses spotted that?" "This is neither of the things you think it is." Waterstone yells at the walls. "Then WHAT is it, Red?" "It is spiritual possesion." End of issue.